Our investigative workshop will pursue four goals:

  • Develop novel models that capture contamination and pathogen growth dynamics involved in sanitization, packaging and shipping.
  • Discuss and develop multi-scale models that connect these supply chain links to form a global picture.
  • Explore how these new models can aid in more relevant data collection to test and inform model predictions at both the local and global levels.
  • Provide a venue for collaboration among mathematical modelers, food technologists, statisticians, microbiologists, and industrial and government agency representatives in order to synthesize knowledge in a way that establishes modeling as an indispensable tool for pathogen surveillance and control in the fresh produce industry.